


Let The Sun Bleed Night

by Pent



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Amnesia, Blood, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Magical Accidents, Major Character Injury, Misunderstandings, Revenge, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-20
Updated: 2016-05-15
Packaged: 2018-05-27 18:09:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6294511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pent/pseuds/Pent
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leo is found gravely injured by the Hoshidan royals during their advance towards Castle Krackenburg, triggering a snowball effect of monstrous escalations in the war between Hoshido and Nohr.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [a Birthright prompt](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/182974) by marisathu. 



Every day, Xander reminds himself that Nohr is a powerful country, one that will write itself into history whether it be in ink or blood. But powerful countries don’t get cornered into their own capital cities, waiting in fear for the night the enemy decides to lay siege and destroy them. 

They don’t rely on miracles.

With a fist to his jaw, Xander hunches over the tactical map spread across the table before him. Hoshidan marks surround Windmire, advancing closer and closer to Castle Krakenburg. 

A quick, single knock at the door followed by the creak of it opening causes Xander to raise his head. 

“Leo, you took your sweet time. What’s the status—Laslow? Hail. My apologies. Please, come in.” Surprised, Xander holds off on scolding his retainer. His orders had been clear: Laslow was to fetch Leo from the Woods of the Forlorn so that he may join him immediately—he had emphasized—to tighten Windmire’s defenses under a new, emergency strategy. 

Once again, Laslow disobeys him by staying put by the door. Raising his brow, Xander glances up and studies the tight, serious frown drawn across Laslow’s face. “What?” asks Xander.

Without a word, Laslow reluctantly advances towards the table and sets down a heap of cloth on top of the map, a cloak soiled in a mixture of blood and swamp mud. Xander gives him a vicious, questioning look that Laslow never responds to, staring past his Lord in a clouded haze. 

Tearing his gaze from Laslow, Xander begins unwrapping the bundle, pausing to inspect the blood that wets his fingertips. 

Inside the cloak is the battered remains of Brynhildr. 

_Brynhildr._

The world comes to a screeching halt. Xander’s breaths are trapped within his throat while a drowning numbness pounds into his ringing ears. Torn, crumpled pages of Brynhildr jut from its binding. Blood soaks through the sides of the once clean page edges, forming grotesque waves. 

“Where’s Leo?” Xander asks, not knowing how long he’s been in a petrified trance. When Laslow fails to respond, Xander glares at him, eyes hollow and brow distorted in pain. A tremor crackles through his voice. “I asked you a question. Where is Leo? Where is my brother?”

“This is all I found, milord,” says Laslow in a small voice.

“No. No,” Xander says, his voice a strained whisper. He lets his eyelids rest, weighed down by the dread of a thousand thoughts sparring in his mind. When he stands, he balances himself on the table with white knuckles. “Speak!”

Laslow shakes his head. “Lord Xander… Owa—Odin is dead. I… found him.” He lowers his voice, looking at the bloody mess on the table. “And, Leo… this is all…”

Panic rises from Xander’s stomach to his mind. Everything is in slow motion and he feels sick with horror. In a fit of rage, he pounds his fists onto the table before throwing himself away from it, violently pacing across the stone floor.

“Come with me,” he says. “Prepare a scouting party.”

“…Milord?”

“We have to find him. Now!” Xander yells. But he knows in his heart that they’re not going to find his little brother. When he storms out of the room, Laslow hesitates before scrambling to follow, mind a million leagues from his body. 

When Xander closes his eyes, he sees red—the filthy blood of the Hoshidans. Now more than ever, their blood deserves to be spilt. 

Leo is dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY GUYS!!!! <3 <3 <3 This fic is SUPER BRUTAL and jumps around a lot, so the chapters are gonna be pretty short!!!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of this wild ride!! Buckle up because this is going to be LONG AND PAINFUL; I HAVE NO FICTION-RELATED BOUNDARIES, MY FRIENDS. 
> 
> That being said, I will bump up the rating if things get too SPICY!!!!! Not sure if Owain's death here is enough for that Major Character Death warning, but better safe than sorry.............. He's Major To Me........ ;O; BUT MORE ON THAT LATER.........
> 
> Stay Tuned...........


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **WARNING: DETAILED BLOOD/GORE**

Something isn't right. 

Drops of blood form a trail that weaves jagged through the Woods of the Forlorn, gleaming in the darkness. The Hoshidans follow it in weary silence. 

Fallen Faceless are strewn across the ground, their corpses poking out from the bog mud and laying broken, slumped against trees and half-rooted in the muck. Ryoma refuses to sheathe Raijinto, keeping a sharp eye on the dead wood encasing them.

In the distance past the twisting, gray branches of a fallen tree marks the path’s bloody end.

"Leo!" Corrin cries, sprinting ahead. Whips of knee-deep swamp mud flay across her torso. Leo is collapsed on the ground near the bank, shoved away from the bog.

Shock buzzes through her skull like a trapped wasp as Corrin fumbles to remove Leo's armor. Sakura catches up and crumples her knees beside them, hands tight around her healing staff. 

Blood bubbles from Leo's nose in a rhythm that snags slow against his scratchy, shallow breaths. Moments pass as hours before a faint gurgling hitches against his throat. 

Kaze pushes Corrin aside and kneels in her place, letting Leo's limp, blueing hand splat into the mud and gore beneath him. He rolls Leo onto his side, keeping a steady hand on his head. Thick blood streams from his parted lips, and he splutters a weak cough that speckles the ninja's arms in glistening red. Kaze ignores it, eyes drawn past Leo's matted hair in search of more serious wounds.

The orb of Sakura's rod shatters, causing her to jump to her feet. Before she can tend to Leo again, Takumi yanks her away. "Stop! He's dangerous. You've done enough."

"B-but—" 

“We must leave. Now,” Ryoma interjects. A rigid frown crosses his face. “I don't like this. Pull back to Macarath. The enemy may still be near, and we're inviting ourselves to be flanked.”

Fury quivers through Takumi's voice, carrying through the woods. "The enemy is right in front of us!" With a shaking fist around Fujin Yumi, he summons a phantasmal arrow and points it steady at Leo's heart. Ryoma throws his arm across Takumi's chest, gauntlet knocking against the sacred bow, causing the arrow to vanish.

"Control yourself," says Ryoma. Takumi shoots his brother a savage glare. "Please. Think. It's unsafe here. We will decide what actions to take once we are secured in Macarath."

Takumi scowls down at Leo, watching Kaze pull a leech from his chest and flick it into the bog next to a half-submerged, yellow cloak. Takumi lowers Fujin Yumi, keeping his fingers ready at its ephemeral string. "This isn't right."

For a short moment, Ryoma closes his eyes. “Hinoka.” She jolts at the address. “Take Kaze with you to Macarath with the Nohrian prince. Please be cautious. We cleared the palace, but if it looks to be occupied... I beg that you not put yourself in danger for this.”

While Hinoka prepares her pegasus, Ryoma's cold gaze catches Kaze's, an order stronger than words. After a deep breath, Kaze gently pries Corrin's hands from Leo's chest while whispering something in her ear, grasping her fingers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORRY ABOUT THE WAIT (AND FOR THIS CHAPTER IN GENERAL, WTF???)!!! Now that I'm done with school FOREVER, there won't be so much of a wait between chapters!! <3 Good news, though: in the two months it took me to write this, I outlined and drafted the next ~10 chapters!! Welcome aboard PENT'S WILD RIDE.........


End file.
